Drew McIntyre Talks His WWE Departure And Return, Christian On What He Told Triple H About McIntyre

Recently, NXT Champion Drew McIntyre was a guest on E&C's Pod Of Awesomeness. Among other things, McIntyre talked about his WWE departure in 2014, growing up in front of the WWE Universe, and his nixed angle with The Undertaker. Also, Christian discussed working Mcintyre early in 'The Scottish Dragon''s WWE run.

On McIntyre's WWE departure, McIntyre said he initially thought being out of the WWE bubble was terrible, but he grew professionally and personally during his time away. Moreover, 'The Chosen One' claimed it is the right time for him to be back with WWE.

"I've been fantastic. I don't even know where to begin. It [has] been a few years. I think I've grown up a little bit and I've been away from the WWE for about three years and I kind of did my own thing. And thanks to everything that I've learned from being on the road with guys like yourselves and the roster that we had at the time and I've been able to take those lessons and apply them all across the world and build my name. It was the right time to come back and I'm back."

McIntyre added, "coming in when I was 21 [years old] straight from university and coming to America, you're growing up in the company and you're in the bubble so long the idea of being outside is a little terrifying, but once I got that chance, that's when I was able to say, 'alright, it's time to put up or shut up.' It's the only thing I've known. It's the only job I've had and I want to see if I could make something happen. Thankfully, I was able to apply everything I did learn that way. And like I said, I grew up a lot as a performer and as a man."

On McIntyre starting out with WWE so young, Edge said McIntyre started out looking a little like Hunter Hearst Helmsley and evolved into Braveheart. McIntyre divulged that he was supposed to have a longer feud with The Undertaker, but feels like he did not look believable against 'The Deadman' in retrospect. Additionally, 'The New Phenom' admitted that he was trying too hard during his first WWE run.

"I had a match with Taker, but I was supposed to do something bigger with Taker. But I looked at myself and how I looked back then. And I was like, 'man, I would not believe that guy.' And then, I look at myself now and I'm like, 'okay, I get it now' when people like Hunter and stuff at the time, I see what they were saying, so I believe this guy that I am currently. And just mentally and everything, all around, I'm ready for that responsibility. And like I said, it takes a lot to be that guy just like you see on TV."

McIntyre recalled, "I was trying too hard. Like, I wasn't able to relax back then. That's another thing and guys, you know, once you're able to relax, that's when things start clicking and people can feel that as well. I just wasn't relaxed at all for my whole first run. I was on-edge that whole time, trying too hard."

According to Christian, he once tore the house down with McIntyre on WWE Superstars and he told Triple H how good McIntyre was. While 'Haitch' agreed, he suggested that McIntyre had to learn how to put on a good matches every night.

"I think it was somewhere in Illinois, [McIntyre] and I, I got to that arena and I was wrestling [McIntyre] on Superstars and [McIntyre] hadn't been doing a lot at this point," Christian said. "[McIntyre was] kind of in flux in terms of what you were doing. And so I get there and I think we ended up having 15 or 16 minutes [for the match] and that's some good time for TV. And like I said, it was on Superstars. And I remember, I wasn't the happiest guy to be on Superstars, so I was like, 'you know what? We're going to tear the house down and make it really hard for anybody to follow this match.' And I remember we went out there and we tore the house down. We had an amazing match and I came back and Hunter was back there. And I said, 'hey, he is good.' And he goes, 'no, he is good, but he needs to learn how to do that every night.'"

Listen to the podcast here. If you use any of the quotes that appear in this article, please credit E&C's Pod Of Awesomeness with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.